ARTHIST 203
Art and Devotion in Northern European
Description
Northern European Art 1400-1600 is a survey of art in Northern Europe with the focus on developments in painting and sculpture and to a lesser extent in manuscript illumination and tapestry. The emphasis is on the changes and developments of art within the Low Countries during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Various themes such as religious symbolism, the techniques of painting, the portrait and approaches to landscape representation will be examined, as well as the development of new genres such as still life and peasant subjects. There will also be study of major individual artists such as Jan van Eyck, Rogier van der Weyden, Hugo van der Goes, Hieronymus Bosch and Pieter Bruegel.
For full course information see the Digital Course Outline.
Digital Course Outlines for 2025 will be refreshed around November/December.
Availability 2025
Not taught in 2025
Lecturer(s)
TBA
Recommended Reading
The two standard works on the period are:
Panofsky, E., Early Netherlandish Painting, Its Origins and Character, 2 vols.
Friedländer, M. J., Early Netherlandish Painting, transl. H. Norden, 14 vols (arranged according to artist; the volumes are listed under the individual artists below)
As both these texts were written quite some time ago they do not include any recent research findings. For this material see the reading lists.
A good new introduction is:
Nash, Susie, Northern Renaissance Art
Other useful general books are:
Cuttler, C., Northern Painting from Pucelle to Bruegel
Snyder, J., Northern Renaissance Art: Painting, Sculpture and the Graphic Arts from 1350-1575
Dunkerton, J., Foister, S., Gordon, D., and Penny, N., Giotto to Dürer. Early Renaissance Painting in The National Gallery
Campell, L., The Fifteenth Century Netherlandish Schools (This is the catalogue of early Netherlandish Painting in the National Gallery, London and contains valuable new information on Bouts, Campin, Van Eyck, Rogier and Memlinc.)
Campbell, L., The Sixteenth Century Netherlandish Paintings with French Paintings before 1600, 2 vols. (This is the new sixteenth century catalogue with valuable new information on Bosch, Gossart, Bruegel, Patinir and Beuckelaer among others)
De Patoul, B. and Van Schoute, R., Les Primatifs flamands et leurs temps ( In French, but the most up to date survey and very good colour plates)
Ainsworth, and Christiansen, K., From Van Eyck to Bruegel, exhibition catalogue, Metropolitan Museum, New York, 1998. A useful recent survey.
Harbison, C., The Art of the Northern Renaissance (a brief recent survey)
Stechow, W., Northern Renaissance Art 1400-1600, Sources and Documents
Wolfthal, D., The Beginnings of Netherlandish Canvas Painting 1400-1530
For painting techniques, the most recent and comprehensive account is:
“The Methods and Materials of Northern European Painting 1400-1550", in National Gallery Technical Bulletin, 18 [1997], pp. 6-55.
Assessment
Coursework + exam
Points
ARTHIST 203: 15 points
Prerequisites
15 points at Stage I in Art History and 30 points passed
Restrictions
ARTHIST 303
